'A young American mathematician, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), and his English
wife, Amy (Susan George), move to a Cornish village, seeking the quiet life. But
beneath the seemingly peaceful isolation of the pastoral village lies a savagery
and violence that threatens to destroy the couple, culminating in a brutal test
of Sumner’s manhood and a bloody battle to the death. One of the most
controversial films ever made, Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs is a harrowing and
masterful investigation of masculinity and the nature of violence.'

ADDITION - MGM (Oct.
2004) - Advertised as the "extended version" of the film - but frankly I
don't see it and the time codes tend to confirm it. I guess they mean
the "uncut" version that Criterion talks about. The scene in
question (as anyone who has watched the film may know - Susan George's
character 'Amy' is raped) seems the same to
me. The video quality
seems a duplicate of the Criterion as far as I can tell (perhaps
Criterion sold them their transfer?). There are no
extras though, but they offer some additional subtitle options. For those
that only want the film (and the price is right), this looks like the
best option, but I am hanging onto my Criterion.

*****

On initial viewing the
Anchor Bay Region 1 shows itself very well in the image department, but
I do see shade of contrast boosting. The Criterion, on the other hand is
as close to perfection as you can get. I don't know what the problem
with the recent FreMantle PAL release is, but the image is quite hazy.
The Extras on the Fremantle are well done, but you are talking another
step-up for the Criterion, who obviously take their jobs incredibly
seriously with a whole 2nd disc of Extras. Because it is a shade darker
the Criterion appears to lose the sharpness battle to Anchor Bay, but in
fact it does not. You can see some nice film grain in the Criterion. If
you are not concerned with the massive extras that the Criterion gives
you (and you want to save a penny or two) or you are not bothered by the
lack of anamorphic-ism get the Anchor Bay while it is still out there.
Film buffs with widescreen TV's will, of course, want the Criterion.